Archetype Entertainment

American video game developer

Archetype Entertainment

Company type| Division
Industry| Video games
Founded| April 2019; 5 years ago (April 2019)
Headquarters|

Austin, Texas

United States

Key people

* James Ohlen (head of studio)
* Chad Robertson
* (vice president and general manager)

Parent| Wizards of the Coast
Website| archetype-entertainment.com

Archetype Entertainment is an American video game development studio established as a division of game publisher Wizards of the Coast, itself a subsidiary of Hasbro. The Austin, Texas-based studio was created by Wizards in April 2019 to develop new intellectual property outside of Wizards' existing Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering franchises. Archetype is notable for having drawn talent from BioWare; Studio Head, James Ohlen, who had previously worked on Dungeons & Dragons role-playing games such as the Baldur's Gate series among other titles along with Chad Robertson and Drew Karpyshyn.[1]

## History

[edit]

Wizards had announced that it was establishing a new Austin studio with James Ohlen as its lead on April 24, 2019.[2] Ohlen, who had retired from BioWare in 2018, had planned to distance himself from the video games industry. Ohlen had established a tabletop role-playing game publishing company, Arcanum Worlds, and had refused multiple lucrative offers from other video game companies for work. Ohlen changed his mind based on the offer that Wizards had given him, which included the necessary freedom to lead the studio the way he wanted, and a chance to return to the type of projects at BioWare that he felt were personal to him, like Baldur's Gate.[2] Wizards' president Chris Cocks said that Ohlen was the right person to help build up Wizards' IP profile beyond Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering based on his past work at BioWare.[3] The studio had not been named, but both Ohlen and Cocks stated that the plan was to develop brand new IP in an "organic" manner to figure out the larger goals for the property, such as which platforms to develop for, and did not set any fixed milestones.[2][3]

Wizards revealed the name Archetype Entertainment in January 2020, along with news that another former BioWare member, Chad Robertson, had been brought on board as vice president and general manager. Wizards also affirmed that the first IP being developed by Archetype would be a science fiction role-playing game.[4][5][6] A month later, Drew Karpyshyn, yet another former BioWare member, came on board Archetype as lead writer. Karpyshyn said that while his interest in video game development waned as BioWare had changed over the years, "my passion has been rekindled. The feel in the studio reminds me of my early days at BioWare; I can feel the magic in the air."[7]

During The Game Awards 2023 on December 7, 2023, Archetype revealed its first game, Exodus, starring Matthew McConaughey.[8] A novel, Exodus: The Archimedes Engine, was released on September 17, 2024 by Peter F. Hamilton, the first in the Archimedes Engine duology.

On December 17th, 2024, in an episode of Secret Level, a narrative prequel was published for Exodus on Amazon Prime.Secret Level

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "New studio Archetype Entertainment announces promising sci-fi RPG project | bit-tech.net". bit-tech.net. Retrieved 2022-07-19.
2. ^ a b c Sinclair, Brendan (April 24, 2019). "James Ohlen joins Wizards of the Coast". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved February 13, 2020.
3. ^ a b Wilson, Jason (April 24, 2019). "Wizards of the Coast taps Baldur's Gate, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic designer James Ohlen for new studio". Venture Beat. Retrieved February 13, 2020.
4. ^ Wales, Matt (January 31, 2020). "Ex-BioWare vets working on story-driven sci-fi game at new Wizards of the Coast studio". Eurogamer. Retrieved February 13, 2020.
5. ^ McWhertor, Michael (2020-01-30). "Wizards of the Coast's new game studio is making a new sci-fi RPG with BioWare vets". Polygon. Retrieved 2021-10-10.
6. ^ "Wizards of the Coast's new Archetype Entertainment studio is making a sci-fi RPG". VentureBeat. 2020-01-30. Retrieved 2021-10-10.
7. ^ Wales, Matt (February 12, 2020). "Mass Effect lead writer Drew Karpyshyn joins ex-BioWare vets' new Wizards of the Coast studio". Eurogamer. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
8. ^ Bailey, Kat; Lyles, Taylor (2023-12-08). "Exodus Is a New Sci-Fi RPG Starring Actor Matthew McConaughey | The Game Awards 2023". IGN. Retrieved 2023-12-08.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website

* v
* t
* e

Hasbro

Intellectual
properties
currently
managed
by Hasbro|

| Toys|

* Action Man
* Alphie
* Army Ants
* Baby Alive
* Battle Trolls
* Beetleborgs
* Blythe
* DohVinci
* Easy-Bake Oven
* Furby
* FurReal Friends
* G.I. Joe
* A Real American Hero
* Glo Worm
* GoBots
* Glitter Force
* Glitter Force Doki-Doki
* Hanazuki
* Inchworm
* Inhumanoids
* Jem
* Julius Jr.
* Kibaoh Klashers
* Koosh
* Kota the triceratops
* Lincoln Logs
* Lite-Brite
* Littlest Pet Shop
* Lost Kitties
* Luna Petunia
* M.A.S.K.
* Masked Rider
* Maxie
* Micronauts
* Mighty Muggs
* Mister Frosty
* Monkgomery
* Monster Face
* My Buddy
* My Little Pony
* Equestria Girls
* MoonDreamers
* My Pet Monster
* NakNak
* Nerf
* Poppin' Park
* Popples
* Potato Head
* Pound Puppies
* Power Rangers
* Play-Doh
* Rom the Space Knight
* Robotix
* Sit 'n Spin
* Spirograph
* Starting Lineup
* Stickle Bricks
* Stretch Armstrong
* Super Soaker
* Talk 'n Play
* Tinkertoy
* Tonka
* Treehouse Detectives
* Transformers
* Beast Wars
* Visionaries
* VR Troopers
* Watchimals
* Weeble

|

Games|

* Acquire
* Aggravation
* Ants in the Pants
* Axis & Allies
* Barrel of Monkeys
* Battleship
* Boggle
* Bop It
* Buckaroo!
* Candy Land
* Catch Phrase
* Chutes & Ladders
* Clue
* Connect Four
* Cootie
* Cranium
* Crocodile Dentist
* Designer's World
* Don't Break the Ice
* Don't Spill the Beans
* Easy Money
* Elefun
* Gator Golf
* Girl Talk
* Guess Who?
* Hi Ho! Cherry-O
* HeroQuest
* Heroscape
* Hungry Hungry Hippos
* Jenga
* Lazer Tag
* The Game of Life
* Mall Madness
* Merlin
* Microvision
* Milton
* Monopoly
* My Monopoly
* Mouse Trap
* Mystery Date
* Nerf Blaster
* Operation
* Ouija
* Parcheesi
* Pay Day
* Perfection
* Pictureka
* Pie Face
* Pit
* Risk
* Rook
* Pretty Pretty Princess
* Scattergories
* Scrabble1 (US and Canada)
* Simon
* Sorry!
* Stay Alive
* Stratego
* Subbuteo
* Taboo
* Trivial Pursuit
* Trouble
* Twister
* Upwords
* Yahtzee

Other|

* Alien TV
* Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom
* The Big Knights
* Cubix
* Cupcake & Dino
* Duel Masters
* Dungeons & Dragons
* Exodus
* Humf
* Kaijudo
* Kiya & the Kimoja Heroes
* The Magic Hockey Skates
* Magic: The Gathering
* Ninja Express
* Odd-Paw Vet
* Pat & Stan
* Peppa Pig
* PJ Masks
* Ricky Zoom
* Tractor Tom
* Void Rivals
* Winston Steinburger and Sir Dudley Ding Dong

Distributed
worldwide
by Hasbro|

* Beyblade2

Subsidiaries
and brands|

* Avalon Hill
* Cranium, Inc.
* Hasbro Entertainment
* Astley Baker Davies
* Discovery Family (40%)
* Kenner
* Hasbro Games
* Milton Bradley
* Parker Brothers
* Tiger Electronics
* Playskool
* Wizards of the Coast
* Archetype Entertainment
* D&D Beyond
* Invoke Studios

Other media|

* Comics
* Films
* Television programs
* Video games
* Hasbro Family Game Night

Conventions|

* Auto Assembly
* BotCon
* TFcon

See also|

* Hasbro Universe
* IDW
* Skybound
* Allspark
* Control-Vision
* Galoob
* Lionsgate Canada
* Saban Capital Group
* Saban Brands

* Category

* * *

* 1(U.S. and Canada)
* 2(except Japan and parts of Asia)

* v
* t
* e

BioWare

A subsidiary of Electronic Arts

Baldur's Gate|

* Baldur's Gate
* Tales of the Sword Coast
* II: Shadows of Amn
* Throne of Bhaal

Neverwinter Nights|

* Neverwinter Nights
* Shadows of Undrentide
* Hordes of the Underdark
* Kingmaker

Star Wars|

* Knights of the Old Republic
* The Old Republic
* Rise of the Hutt Cartel

Mass Effect|

* Mass Effect
* Galaxy
* Mass Effect 2
* Mass Effect 3
* Andromeda
* Legendary Edition

Dragon Age|

* Origins
* Awakening
* Dragon Age II
* Legends
* Inquisition
* The Veilguard

Other games|

* Shattered Steel
* MDK2
* Jade Empire
* Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood
* Anthem

Cancelled games|

* Command & Conquer
* Shadow Realms

People|

* David Gaider
* Manveer Heir
* Jennifer Hepler
* Jeff Hickman
* Casey Hudson
* Drew Karpyshyn
* Mike Laidlaw
* Ray Muzyka
* James Ohlen
* Mac Walters
* Trick Weekes
* Greg Zeschuk

Related|

* Beamdog
* Mythic Entertainment
* NWScript
* Black Isle Studios
* Obsidian Entertainment
* inXile Entertainment
* Troika Games
* Motive Studios
* Archetype Entertainment

* List
* Category

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